In recent years the landau type roof has become quite popular as a styling feature of American made automobiles. Typically, the landau roof style imparts a divided or two sectional roof appearance. In traditional American automobile styling the landau roof is made up of a front metal roof section, and an adjacent rear vinyl roof section.
While the landau roof is desirable from a styling consideration, it does have practical draw backs and limitations. In this regard, many people still desire to use a roof mounted luggage rack on their vehicle from time to time, but generally such roof mounted luggage racks are not compatible with a landau roof. In particularly, the attaching means of a roof mounted luggage rack is generally comprised of a series of suction cups that are designed to engage the roof of the vehicle. Such suction cups are not always effective in creating a secure suction attachment with vinyl or resilient surfaces. In addition, with a landau roof, the vinyl material comprising a part thereof is not as rugged and durable as a conventional metal roof, and consequently is more prone to tear, rip and other forms of damage than a conventional metal roof construction. Thus, in the end it can be stated that for the most part conventional roof mounted luggage racks are unsuitable for use in conjunction with vehicles having a landau roof.